The Butter Chicken Experiment

When we decided to switch to a paleo-based diet, it meant cooking at home -- a lot.  The first challenge to overcome was not the diet itself, but finding time to cook.  We both come home from work dog-tired and pretty hungry.  "Before" this meant ordering pizza, going out to eat, or grilling up a burger and fries because no one could come up with a better idea; and cooking anything other than a burger can mean eating well after 8pm.

I got us into this mess, so I took it upon myself to get us out of it; or at least get us on track.  Instead of watching an extra episode of Cupcake Wars on demand, I use that time to cook dinner for the next two nights.  I'm not cooking two separate meals; we just tend to squeeze two dinners and maybe a lunch for Grant out of one dish.  So far, this plan seems to be working because we haven't eaten out in about 30 days!  I also find it easier to cook when I'm not starving and dealing with a grouch-inducing blood sugar crash; nor is the lure to snack out of the pantry as strong when I'm full from dinner.

Today's experiment is Butter Chicken; one of our favorite Indian dishes.  According to the in-depth culinary research I did after cooking this dish (Wikipedia) "real" butter chicken involves marinating chicken in a yogurt and spice mixture and serving the finished product with naan and rice.  Under the new guidelines we've adopted, yogurt, naan, and rice are all verboten, so I had to find a "hack" that would work for us.  

Through the power of Google, I found one of many paleo-style recipes for butter chicken at paleodietlifestyle.com.

The recipe calls for:

 - 2 Tbsp. butter, times 2

Now, I know I've said before that dairy is not allowed, but there are very limited exceptions to this rule (see the Whole30 Butter Manifesto, here).  Most recipes call for clarified butter, or ghee.  In this case I'm using organic pastured butter.

- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken, cut into chunks

- 2 tsp. garam masala 

I had never heard of this spice before, which is actually a mix of different spices, but I was able to find a ready-to-use bottle at Whole Foods for about $2.

- 2 tsp. paprika

- 2 tsp. ground coriander

- 1 Tbsp. freshly-grated ginger (yes, freshly grated, not powdered)

- 1/4 tsp. chili powder (the recipe says you can adjust to taste)

- 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom (used in lieu of 6 bruised cardamom pods -- could not find!)

- 1 can tomato puree (the recipe doesn't specify the size of can; I had 24oz on-hand)

- 3/4 cup coconut milk (whole fat, not light)

- 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Because I'm Type-A and all about following directions, I have been religiously using the prep tips from one of the cookbooks I purchased, Well Fed.  The author, Melissa Joulwan, recommends measuring out all ingredients ahead of time like they do on t.v. so they are ready to go when you are.  That way, you're not scrambling for something at a crucial cooking step, and will know very quickly if you're missing any ingredients.

Here are my beautifully-prepped ingredients...

Step 1: Take the first 2 Tbsp. of butter and melt in a skillet over medium heat (it may be old hat for some of you, but I've learned the hard way that more heat does not equal faster cooking).

Step 2: Add your chicken chunks to the skillet and thoroughly cook all the pieces.  I turned the heat up just a little past medium to cook the chicken (after Googling, "what setting do you use on your stovetop to cook chicken" -- I'm not kidding).  Believe me when I tell you that butter is a miracle food!  Unlike cooking chicken in oil, the meat stayed moist and juicy through the entire cooking process.  It was almost as if the butter kept it safe; nestled in a little food cocoon :-)  

I've also learned not to smash all the chicken into the skillet at one time; give it a little room!  To cook all two pounds, I cooked the chicken in two batches.  The second batch definitely cooked a little faster than the first so there is no "one time fits all" approach. When the chicken is fully-cooked, remove it from the pan with tongs or a slotted spoon and set aside (but just for a moment!).  After removing the first batch of chicken, I didn't have to add any additional butter to the pan to cook the second batch.

Step 3: Using a larger pan that can take on a little more volume, melt the second 2 Tbsp. of butter.  You can use the same pan used to cook the chicken, but my nicer pans are too shallow.  Dirty dishes, learning to deal with them, ugh.

Add the spices, including the grated ginger, to the melted butter and mix together.  It smells good, but looks a little sketchy at this point...

(Hmmm....spice goo)

Step 4: Toss the cooked chicken into the pot and mix to coat...

...add the tomato puree...

...let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Step 5: Add the coconut milk and lemon juice and simmer for about 5 more minutes...

And that's it!  Hmmm...it smells kind of like butter chicken.  Fingers crossed!  At this point, I took it off the heat and put it in a storage container to be refrigerated.  I, um, didn't taste the food at this point.  Letting Grant read a very rough draft of this post, he turned to me and said, "You didn't taste the food?  You always taste the food!  How do you know if it needs salt or anything?"  O-kay...good point!

Fast forward to the following night where the butter chicken is served with steamed green beans and cumin-spiced carrots (which, by the way, are sooo good, and I will show how they're made in another post).  Using the guidelines from Whole30, there is a palm-sized portion of protein while the rest of the plate is filled with vegetables.

Ta-da!!!!

So how does it taste?  Well....it needs salt (cue the rare moment when husband is right).  It definitely doesn't taste like butter chicken from our favorite Indian restaurant, but it's tender and flavorful (after a shake of salt) and pairs nicely with the cumin carrots.

After dinner I had a bit of an aha moment and decided to look up a "regular" butter chicken recipe (which led to the Wikipedia reference from earlier).  Other than the yogurt marinade, I didn't really see anything that wasn't allowed in the Whole30 program, or couldn't easily be substituted (such as coconut oil instead of peanut oil).  Next time, I am going to start with a "regular" recipe and use coconut milk in place of the yogurt in the marinade.  See?  Learning already!  I don't know if those adjustments will work either, but I won't know until I try.

Mange!

Kimmy